<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Just Hold Me by Beck17</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22607461">Just Hold Me</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beck17/pseuds/Beck17'>Beck17</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Red White &amp; Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Grief/Mourning, Love, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 16:42:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>552</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22607461</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beck17/pseuds/Beck17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>No one really tells you about how hard grief can be and often, no one really knows how to help someone who is grieving. But sometimes, all a person needs is to be held.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>115</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Just Hold Me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello readers!</p>
<p>Hope you like this small little story. It just popped into my head and I quickly wrote it down and posted it, so it hasn't been edited properly. </p>
<p>Leave a Kudos or comment and let me know what you think, I have a few ideas for some stories I'd like to write and post. </p>
<p>Thanks for reading x</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Alex stood in the doorway, a worried look across his face. Even after all this time, it was not often he saw Henry this way. Henry, hunched over at his desk, scribbling away at his papers with his mind clearly somewhere very far away. This day, Alex knew, never got easier for Henry no matter how many years had passed. </p>
<p>“Hey,” Alex said quietly, his voice breaking ever so slightly.</p>
<p>It was just enough to get Henry to break from his revery and lock eyes with Alex, a small smile forming. </p>
<p>“Hey back. You’re home early, I didn’t expect you until next week.” Henry responded, hopping up from his chair and walking towards his love. </p>
<p>“I had to be home for today, responsibilities be damned. You need me today,” Alex said, grabbing Henry’s extended hand and enveloping him into a deep hug, his hand wrapping around his neck and into his golden hair. </p>
<p>“You remembered,” Henry stated flatly. </p>
<p>“I’ll never forget,” Alex whispered into Henry’s ear making the latter hold on just a little tighter and burying his face into Alex’s neck. </p>
<p>Alex could feel Henry’s body shake ever so slightly and a dampness on his shoulder. He shushed Henry lovingly and continued to hug him, stroking his hair as both of them started rocking slightly on the spot. </p>
<p>Grief is unavoidable and Henry knew all too well just how all consuming it could be. It changed him so fundamentally he almost couldn’t reconcile the person he was before losing his dad to the person he was after. They were two different versions of Henry. But little by little, Alex gave him an open and safe space to try to bring together the two Henry’s. Day’s like today, the anniversary of his father’s death, it was almost too easy for Henry to regress back to the grief stricken boy he once was, completely and utterly overwhelmed by loss. </p>
<p>No one ever tells you about grief growing up. They say you’ll be sad and you might cry. They don’t tell you that it is so much more than a few tears and that iit never truly goes away. They don’t tell you about how it invades every crevice of your mind, body and soul, every moment you experience, every inch of joy and happiness and every facet of who you are. But Henry knows what it feels like. Over the years, Alex has listened to Henry talk about it, mention little things about his father, open up little by little. Each time, he’s a little bit more free than he used to be, a sense of relief flooding through Henry. </p>
<p>But anniversaries are the hardest. And most of the time all Henry needs when he’s grieving is a hug. Just a nice, simple hug to get through the bad feelings. A reminder of the good, of the love that still exists in the world, of why he wants to be pulled out of the bad places. And Alex makes it easier. He’s always made it easier, never making Henry feel weak or a problem for his grief. </p>
<p>“I love you,” Henry says simply, his voice muffled by Alex’s shoulder.</p>
<p>“I love you more,” Alex responds, still stroking the back of Henry’s head. </p>
<p>“Not possible,” and Henry grips Alex just a little bit tighter.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>